Media content can now be received from any number of different sources. Broadcast television content, for example, can typically be received at set-top box (STB) or other receiver that receives a direct broadcast satellite (DBS), cable and/or terrestrial broadcast signal. Received content may be stored in a personal or digital video recorder (DVR) or the like for viewing at a later time (“time shifting”). Frequently, live or pre-recorded content can also be “placeshifted” over the Internet or another network to allow viewing at remote locations away from the viewer's primary television set. In addition to the wide variety of options in viewing broadcast media content, even more content is increasingly becoming available “on demand” from any number of file based or streaming sources, including various network-based services that provide access to a wealth of on-demand programming.
As content becomes available from a multitude of sources, however, it can be increasingly difficult to locate desired programming. If a viewer wishes to locate a particular program or episode, for example, he or she would typically conduct separate searches of broadcast program guides, on-demand libraries, DVR contents and/or the like to try and find the desired program. Moreover, the wealth of content available often makes broad searches impractical. That is, conventional searches for broad categories of programming (e.g., “comedy”) can be impractical, since the number of results returned from such searches often far exceeds the number of results that can be readily processed by the viewer.
As a result, it is now desirable to create systems and methods for improved searching of media content. Other desirable features and characteristics may also become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.